Potpourri Unit: The Convergence of the Twain

"The Convergence of the Twain"
Thomas Hardy

This poem follows the tragic sinking of the Titanic, but hardly seeks to eulogize the fallen giant.  Instead, the speaker conjures two contrasting characters: the ship and the iceberg that sank her.  The use of imagery reinforces the idea of the Titanic being a token of human vanity and the iceberg being a supernatural creator's intended mate.

One of the first images presented in the poem is that of an expanse distance.  The ship in question already lies at the bottom of the sea in almost complete solitude.  In fact, the speaker makes special mention to the fact that the ship is separated from human vanity by the vast ocean.  The reader can surmise that the ship illustrates the failure that commonly befalls the greatest of human aspirations and human pride.  Furthermore, imagery serves to underline a stark contrast between the splendor of the ship and the environment of her grave: "Dim moon-eyed fishes near Gaze at the gilded gear And query: 'What does this vaingloriousness down here?'..." (Hardy, 778).  Despite the decorations of gold, the ship ingloriously came to rest among lowly creatures that can hardly even see the shimmering glory that once draped the vessel.  Many works of human vanity succumb to decay even though they were meant to be praised for eternity.

One more vessel is mentioned in the poem: the iceberg which sunk the ship.  However, the creation of this character was not due to human vanity, but omnipotent design.  In fact, the creation of the iceberg which occurred during the building of the ship, was intended to unite with the ship.  The speaker conjures images of the ship and the iceberg being two halves of one praised event and two hemispheres of one globe.  That ostentatious displays of human vanity come to face natural demise seems to be the intent of the one who created all.